We Meet Again
by Bryan Greenberg
Summary: After an upleasant experience Rory meets an old friend and they reconnect. ColinRory.
1. An Unpleasant Experience

Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls or the characters much as I adore them.

**Things you need to know before reading this story:**

Rory and Logan broke up when she told him she couldn't handle no strings anymore

She became friends with him, Colin, and Finn, but they weren't best friends

She hasn't seen any of them since they graduated at the end of her junior year

**Ch. 1- An Unpleasant Experience**

Rory was walking alone down the dark streets of New York. She knew she shouldn't be walking by herself, but it was only nine o'clock and she needed coffee if she was going to finish her article by her deadline the next morning. Her favorite café was just a few blocks from her apartment so she figured she would be fine.

She was walking past an alley when she felt an arm reach out and grab her arm. She felt herself pulled roughly and a hand was placed harshly over her mouth. She could feel the cold barrel of a gun placed on her lower back pressed on the sliver of skin exposed between her shirt and jeans.

"Don't say a fucking word," a rough voice breathed in her ear. She could smell alcohol on his breath and she began to tremble willing herself not to cry.

"W-what do you want?" she asked shakily.

"Just give me all of your money and you won't get hurt," he demanded punctuating his point by jabbing the gun harder into her back.

She cringed and pulled her wallet out of her purse. "Here," she said, "I don't have that much. I'm just a staff reporter. We don't make very much."

"Fifteen fucking dollars?" he spat, "Give me your cell."

She handed pulled her phone out and handed it behind her. She felt the gun removed from her back and something hard came down on her head. Everything went black.

"Rory?" she heard a vaguely familiar voice saying as she came to.

"Where am I?" she asked as she struggled to open her eyes and see who this man was who was speaking to her.

"You're lying in an alley," the man said, "What happened Rory?"

She thought for a minute. How had she gotten here? "There was a man…and a gun…Colin?" She had finally gotten her eyes open and recognized the man crouching beside her. "I got mugged," she said.

"Jeez, Rory, look at your head," he said, concerned, "We should get you to a hospital."

Rory just nodded as she took Colin's hand, and he helped her stand up. She wobbled a little and fell into his arms. "Whoa, are you ok?" he asked.

"Just a little…dizzy," she responded.

Colin nodded and wrapped his arm around her to help her walk. They got to the street and Colin hailed a cab and helped her inside. "We need to go to the nearest hospital," he told the driver.

"Oh, God," Rory said laying her head back on the seat of the car, "This is going to be such a hassle. I have to cancel my credit cards and my cell phone and call my bank and there's no way I'm going to be able to finish my article for tomorrow."

Colin laughed. "Still the same workaholic Reporter Girl I see," he said, "Calm down a little. Let's just make sure your head's ok and take it from there."

Rory sighed and leaned back settling against Colin. "I was so scared," she whispered, finally letting tears fall.

He put his arm around her and said, "You're going to be ok."

She nodded. "I know," she said and looked at him, "Thank you for being there Colin. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't found me."

"It's good to see you again, Rory," he said, "Too bad it was under these circumstances."

They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes before he spoke again. "What the hell were you doing walking alone at night," he asked.

She shrugged. "I was out of coffee."

He shook his head and gave a short laugh. "You really haven't changed."

When they reached the hospital Colin helped Rory out of the cab and walked with her into the emergency room.

She was sitting on a bed in the hospital talking to a doctor. "I've gone over your CAT scan and stitched up your head, Ms. Gilmore," the doctor said, "You have a concussion so you should be careful sleeping tonight. Do you have someone who can make sure you wake up every few hours?"

"Umm," Rory said.

"I can do it," Colin offered.

"You don't have to do that Colin. I can…"

"Really, Rory, its fine," he interrupted.

"Alright then," said the doctor, "Then the police would like to speak with you Ms. Gilmore and then you can go."

"Thank you," Rory said, and the doctor walked away.

"Ms. Gilmore?" a uniformed police officer asked as he approached. She nodded. "I just need to get a statement about what happened tonight and then you can be on your way. I'm sure you're eager to get home so I'll make this as short as possible."

"Ok," Rory said, "I was walking a couple blocks to get some coffee. It was about nine o'clock. I had a deadline for an article and I was out of coffee, and I don't function without massive amounts of caffeine. I was walking past this alley and this arm grabbed me, and this guy put his hand over my mouth and a gun against my back. He demanded my money and, when he saw I only had fifteen dollars in cash, my cell. He took it, and I felt something hit my head. The next thing I remember is Colin waking me up in the alley."

"You didn't see his face at all?" the officer asked. Rory shook her head. "Okay," he said, "With only that to go on, our only hope of catching him is if he tries to use your credit card. I wouldn't hold my breath though. My advice is you cancel everything and just move on with your life."

Rory nodded. "Thank you officer." He nodded and left her alone.

Colin took Rory's hand and helped her off the bed. "Come on. Let's get you home," he said.

"Thanks for doing this, Colin," Rory said with a grateful smile, "I bet you're glad you ran into me today for the first time in five years."

Colin laughed and put his arm around her. "Actually I am, Gilmore."

As they were getting into a cab and Rory was telling the driver her address, Colin's phone rang.

"Hello," he answered, "Hey Kaylee…I know I said I would be there by 9:15, but something came up…I ran into an old friend of mine who had just been mugged. She was unconscious and I took her to the hospital…I can't come tonight Kaylee…Because she has a concussion and she needs someone to make sure she wakes up every few hours tonight…I offered Kaylee…This is only going to work if you trust me…I'll call you later…Bye."

He hung up with a sigh and looked at Rory. "Sorry about that," he said.

"If this is a problem for your girlfriend I can figure something out, Colin," she told him, "I don't want to cause any problems. Although I'm a little surprised that _you_ have a girlfriend."

He gave a bitter laugh and said, "That's kind of the problem. We had what you and Logan would call a 'no strings' relationship, and she just recently told me that she couldn't do it anymore so I told her I could be with just her."

"A situation I know well," Rory said with a little smile, "Only with the opposite outcome. Although, I don't thin I would have taken Logan up on it if he'd offered to be my boyfriend. I would never have really been able to trust him." She saw the look on Colin's face and continued, "That doesn't mean Kaylee will never trust you. You're not Logan and she's not me."

"I hope you're right," he sighed, "Because I don't know how much longer I can handle the jealousy and lack of trust."

Rory gave him a sympathetic smile, but she could tell he wanted to change the subject. "Do you think I could borrow your cell to call my editor? I need to tell her I'm not going to get my article done." Colin nodded and handed Rory his phone. She leaned into his side as she dialed, and the two rode the rest of the way to her apartment in that comfortable position.

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AN- I really liked this chapter, but I've never written a future fic before. Tell me what you think please.


	2. Awkward

Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls but I heart them.

**Ch. 2- Awkward**

Rory was cranky as she padded from her room into the kitchen at ten o'clock the next morning. Upon doctor's orders, Colin had woken her up every three hours the night before so she wasn't very well rested, and her head felt as though an anvil had been dropped upon it. She groaned as she remembered that she was out of coffee.

"Good morning," Colin said looking up from his paper as she entered the kitchen. She growled in response. He laughed and offered her a paper cup of coffee.

She took a long worshipful sip. "Thank you," she breathed with her eyes closed.

"How's your head feeling?" he asked sympathetically.

"Like hell," Rory moaned as she went to the cupboard for ibuprofen.

She joined Colin at the table taking another long drag of her coffee. "You're a saint. Did you know that?" she asked giving him a grateful smile.

"You're easy to please," he responded with a shrug of his shoulders.

"I'm serious," she insisted, "Not everyone would stay all night with a semi-friend they haven't seen in five years and then buy them coffee."

"Semi-friend?" he asked with a wry grin.

Rory rolled her eyes. "You're not offended," she told him, "We didn't talk once after you guys graduated. We were semi-friends."

"Alright," he conceded, "We were semi-friends. But I hope we can be real friends now."

"I would like that," Rory said, "As long as it doesn't cause problems with your girlfriend."

"You had to bring it up?" Colin asked.

"Well," Rory responded with a shrug.

Colin groaned and banged his head on the table. His cell phone rang and he checked the caller ID. "Speak of the devil," he said before answering.

"Hey Kay," he answered, "… I'm still at Rory's…My friend who got mugged."

Rory grabbed her coffee and left Colin alone with his phone call. She walked into the living room and pulled out a pen and paper and began to make a list of the things she had to get done that day. She had a lot of phone calls to make to deal with her mugging, and she had to talk with her editor to see what had happened with her article. She had faxed her notes and what she had done to another reporter the evening before so it could get done. She moaned and lay back on the couch. This stressing wasn't helping her headache. She closed her eyes and leaned back against the couch breathing deeply. She stayed there until she felt a weight next to her on the couch and a hand on her arm.

"You ok?" Colin asked softly.

"Yeah," Rory sighed, "I'm just stressed and my head hurts. Everything ok with Kaylee?"

Colin shrugged even though Rory's eyes were closed and she couldn't see him. "She's jealous," he said, "She wants you to have lunch with us."

Rory's eyes flew open and she looked at Colin. "Why?" she asked.

He rubbed his forehead and said, "I don't know. I guess she thinks if she meets you she'll be able to tell if we're having an affair or something. Maybe she thinks if you put a face to her name you'll feel guilty sleeping with her boyfriend or something. Honestly, Rory, I haven't a clue how her mind works sometimes."

"Alright, I guess," Rory said, "If we're going to be friends now I'll probably meet her eventually. When?"

"Well, she wanted to do it today, but, if you've got too much to do, I can tell her some other time," he responded.

"No," Rory said, "If I get started now, I can probably be done with everything I need to do by one. Is that an ok time?"

Colin nodded his affirmation. The two agreed to meet at a café a few blocks from Rory's apartment, and Colin left so Rory could start dealing with the things she had to do that day.

Before he left he wrote down his cell number and said, "Call me if you need anything. Seriously, don't stress yourself out too much." Rory just smiled and kissed his cheek as she led him out the door.

Two hours later Rory was running late. She had stopped at the cell phone store and it was one o'clock exactly as she was leaving, but she had finished all of her tasks for the day and she was feeling relieved despite the pounding in her head for which she couldn't take medicine for another three hours.

As her cab pulled up in front of Chelle's Café it was 1:20. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry I'm late," she said breathlessly as she walked up to the table where Colin and a pretty blonde woman were sitting.

"It's not a problem," Kaylee said with an obviously forced smile as she looked Rory up and down.

Kaylee was beautiful. Her wavy blonde hair reached her mid back, and her green eyes sparkled on her perfectly proportioned and perfectly made up face. Her complexion was flawless and a perfect tan. Rory privately thought she looked a little like a Barbie doll. She was, however, drastically overdressed for the homey café in the middle of the day.

Rory's own appearance was frazzled. She had been on the phone and running around all morning. Her clothes were casual though they fit her perfectly. Her hair was thrown into a haphazard bun with wisps falling around her face, her makeup was minimal with just a touch of mascara and lip gloss, and her face was flushed from rushing to avoid being too late. The two were both beautiful, but represented drastically different lifestyles and types of people.

"I'm Rory," Rory said, holding her hand out to Kaylee with a large genuine smile on her face.

"Kaylee," the blonde responded her own smile sickly sweet as she extended her hand.

Rory let out a relieved sigh as she took her seat at the table and took a long sip of the water sitting in front of her. She looked around for a waiter hoping to order some coffee to soothe her aching head.

"Long morning?" Colin asked with a concerned smile which did not go unnoticed by his girlfriend who flared her nostrils in annoyance.

"Yeah," Rory responded, closing her eyes for a moment, "But at least I got everything taken care of. I only lost out on fifteen dollars."

"You only had fifteen dollars in cash?" Kaylee asked and scrunched her nose. Colin looked at her incredulously at her extremely rude answer. Sure there was a time when he had been snobbish and arrogant about money, Marty the bartender could attest to that, but he had left those days behind him when he graduated.

Rory was unfazed by the question. She laughed and said, "Yeah. I'm working towards being an international correspondent, but, in journalism, you have to start at the bottom."

"Oh, so you're a journalist?" Kaylee asked, again scrunching up her nose.

"Yup," Rory said, with a smile, "It's been my dream since I was, like, ten."

Colin was relieved that their waiter appeared at the table at that moment. He wasn't sure how much ruder Kaylee would have to get before she offended Rory. Kaylee was a society girl and had perfected the art of insulting someone while appearing to be nice. She could give Emily Gilmore a run for her money.

"Are you ready to order?" the waiter asked the awkward trio.

"I would like the house salad with the dressing on the side and a glass of sparkling water," Kaylee said.

"I would like a BLT with fries and a coke," ordered Colin. The waiter nodded and turned to Rory.

Rory smiled and said, "I'll have the largest cup of coffee you can bring me, a burger medium rare, and can I get fries and onion rings on the side?" The waiter nodded and took their menus before walking away.

"Are you stress-eating?" Kaylee asked pretending to be sympathetic, but she had a hint of disdain laced in her tone.

Colin laughed. "That's just how Rory eats," he said shaking his head, "In college, she would eat me, Logan, and Finn under the table without breaking a sweat."

"Dirty," Rory teased making Colin blush as he thought about what he had said, "But, seriously, I'm nothing. You should see my mother." Colin laughed as he had met Lorelai once or twice during college and Kaylee gave a stiff smile.

Rory was relieved when her coffee finally came. Her headache had been getting steadily worse as she tried to maintain her smile through Kaylee's underhanded jabs. She took a long sip, and hoped the food would come soon so this torturous lunch wouldn't go on too much longer. She was glad she had reconnected with Colin. He seemed to have matured since Yale and was even more likeable than before, but she didn't need the stress of being on her guard right now.

The lunch was long and awkward as Kaylee's jealously continued to flare up accompanied by jabs and rude comments. Rory practically sighed with relief when it was finally over and Colin, like the gentleman he was, helped her into her cab.

He glanced behind him to make sure Kaylee was out of earshot before saying, "I'm really sorry about that, Rory. I don't know what got into her. I swear she's normally nicer than that."

"It's fine," Rory assured him giving him a kiss on the cheek, "I've heard comments my whole life. She's just insecure. I'll call you and we'll get together sometime ok?" Colin nodded with a smile as she got in the cab and drove away.

As he and Kaylee got into their own cab and headed towards his apartment he thought about what he said to Rory. Was Kaylee really that different than what Rory had seen at lunch or had he simply not had a decent comparison before now?

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AN- Did I make Kaylee too unlikable? I was torn between making her really snobby and making her be nice. Let me know what you think. I might try and reform her a little bit later in the story if people think she was too awful.


	3. The Brat Pack

Disclaimer: No, I don't own Gilmore Girls. I heart Amy Sherman-Palladino. If anyone wants to join me in stalking her, let me know.

AN- I made a teeny change to the previous chapter. Finnlover pointed out to me that there was a slightly dirty comment made so I added a little bit to the section. It didn't change the storyline at all so you don't have to go back and read it.

**Ch. 3-The Brat Pack**

A week after the awkward lunch with Kaylee, Rory was expecting Colin so they could have a movie night. Her coffee table was covered with Chinese food containers, chips, and candy, and there was a large stack of DVDs by her TV.

She squealed excitedly when she heard a knock on her door. She hadn't had a good movie night since the last time she visited her mother in Starts Hollow. Her New York friends weren't into movies so she had been ecstatic when Colin had called suggesting a movie night.

She skipped to the door and, after opening it, dragged Colin into the living room while talking full speed.

"I hope you're hungry because I ordered the entire beef and chicken sections on the menu. You're not a vegetarian are you? You better not be. Meat is an essential food group. Almost as important as coffee and sugar. We're having a brat pack marathon. How do you feel about Rob Lowe and Molly Ringwald?" Rory gave Colin a pointed look letting him know how he _should_ feel about them before opening her mouth to continue her rant.

"Rory," Colin interrupted, "You really should breathe and let me answer your questions."

She looked at him as though he was crazy before saying, "They were rhetorical."

"Right," Colin said sarcastically, "Because no one is a vegetarian and everyone _loves_ the brat pack."

"Exactly," Rory said with a roll of her eyes, "Now, come on. _The Breakfast Club _and large quantities of food are waiting for us."

Colin smiled as he sat down on the couch while Rory started the movie. He grabbed the chicken fried rice and began eating.

"So how come you can be here?" Rory asked tentatively as she sat down, "I mean, is this ok with Kaylee?"

Colin shrugged. "Probably not," he replied, "But she's out of town, and I'm not going to not be friends with you just because my girlfriend is jealous. I should be allowed to have female friends."

Rory nodded. "I've had that problem before. Neither of my high school boyfriends liked when I had guy friends. It was kind of ridiculous. Oh, no more talking. The movie's starting."

The two settled back eating and watching as the five teenagers met and started to get to know each other on the TV screen. Colin looked at Rory and smiled at her attentive watching of the movie. He was sure she had seen the movie many time before yet the excitement on her face was that of someone experiencing something for the first time. He was glad he had run into Rory again. He couldn't remember ever feeling this comfortable around anyone besides Logan and Finn.

"Such a great movie," Rory said as the ending credits started to roll, "I mean, how great is it that they all just overcame the cliques and became friends? I just know they stayed friends when they went back to school."

Colin laughed. "I don't know," he teased, "I'm not so sure they stayed friends. Claire and Andy are pretty snobby."

Rory gasped. "Blasphemy!" she cried, "They saw past appearances and bonded. They're so going to keep dating and being friends." She glared at Colin daring him to argue with her.

"Alright," he conceded, "I give. No more cliques." She stuck her tongue out at him gloatingly.

"Good," she said, "Now we can start our next movie of the night. _St. Elmo's Fire_. Talk about a classic."

"Seriously?" he cringed, "That's possibly the worst the brat pack ever did."

"You're just saying that because you don't want to admit how hot Rob Lowe is in that movie," she said. Colin just sighed and grabbed a red vine. "Ha!" Rory shouted, "Friends again for only a week and already I control you. If we were dating I'd say you were whipped."

Colin rolled his eyes and waited for Rory to start the movie.

Three hours later Rory looked over and noticed Colin fast asleep on the couch. "Falling asleep during _Sixteen Candles_," she grumbled, "That's just wrong. Almost as bad as when Luke fell asleep during _Hard Bodies_. I miss mom. She would _never _fall asleep during a brat pack movie night. Stupid boys."

"Freaking saxophone," Colin mumbled in his sleep interrupting Rory's rant.

Rory smiled. He looked adorable. _I am so making fun of him for dreaming about Rob Lowe_, she thought. She took a blanket and covered him up after maneuvering his legs so he was lying relatively comfortably on the couch.

Colin's phone began to ring at that moment and Rory quickly picked it up hoping not to wake him. "Hello," she whispered, "Colin McCrea's phone."

"Who the hell is this?" a shrill female voice screamed.

Rory cringed. "Kaylee?" she asked tentatively, "Um, this is Rory."

"Why are you answering Colin's phone at 1:30 in the morning?" she screamed in the same shrill voice, "I swear if you are sleeping with my boyfriend I will kill you with my bare hands."

Rory sighed and said, "If I was sleeping with Colin why would I have answered his phone when you were calling? He was over here and we were watching movies. He fell asleep so I answered his phone so he wouldn't wake up."

"How do I know you're not stupid?" Kaylee asked scornfully, "If you're stupid, than you would answer the phone."

"I'm not sleeping with Colin," Rory said starting to get annoyed at the accusations, "We're friends. What would Miss Manners say at your threat to kill me?"

"You're not funny," Kaylee spat, "Let me talk to Colin."

Rory sighed and put the phone on the coffee table as she kneeled in front of Colin. "Colin," she whispered in his ear, "You need to wake up. Kaylee is on the phone."

"What?" Colin mumbled, disoriented, "What's going on?"

Rory smiled at him. "Kaylee's on the phone," she said handing it to him.

He sighed. "Hey Kay," he said, "What's up?...I told you I was going to be at Rory's tonight…Why are you calling me right now?...You came back early?...Ok, I'm on my way right now…Kaylee, I'm on my way…No, I didn't sleep with her. Damn it, why can't you trust me to have female friends?...Whatever, I'll see you in like ten minutes…Bye." He groaned as he hung up the phone. "I was having such a good dream too," he said looking at Rory.

She couldn't help but laugh. "Good dreams about Rob Lowe?" she asked.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, confused.

"You were mumbling about saxophones Mr. I don't like _St. Elmo's Fire,_" she teased.

Colin groaned and gathered his stuff to leave.

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AN- Kinda filler, but I liked it. I just want to build up a friendship for them.


	4. Blind Date

Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing except for a whole lot of debt in the form of student loans. Anyone want that? No takers? Ok then.

**Ch. 4- Blind Date**

"Hello?" Rory mumbled distractedly into her cell phone, "Hang on, I'm thirty seconds away from finishing this article…And, done."

"Hey, Rory," Colin said, amused, "How's it going?"

"Fabulous now that I finished that article," Rory responded, "So what's up?"

"Well," he began nervously, "Kaylee had this idea…"

"You don't sound at all enthused by this idea," Rory said suspiciously, "What does she want?"

"She wants you to go on a double date with us," he said.

"Does she realize I'm not seeing anyone at the moment?" Rory asked with a laugh.

"See she has that covered," Colin said, "She wants to set you up."

"No way," Rory said automatically, "I don't go on blind dates in general let alone with someone _Kaylee _is going to set me up with."

"Please, Rory," Colin begged, "It's just one night, and I think it would really help my relationship."

Rory sighed. "You'll be there?" she asked, "I won't have to go through the pain of trying to come up with conversation with this guy?"

"I'll be there," Colin confirmed, "I bet I can convince her that it should be a triple date with Finn and whatever red head he's seeing at the moment. Then you'd have two people you can talk to."

"Finn!" Rory exclaimed, "I missed that boy. Alright, fine. If you and Finn will both be there I guess I can survive one night. Just, try and make sure whoever the guy is he isn't too awful."

"Deal," Colin said, "Thank you so much for this, Ror. I really don't know what to do anymore to reassure her that I'm not going to cheat on her."

"I hate to say this," Rory said, "But maybe, if this goes on too much longer, you two weren't meant to be together."

"I know," Colin sighed, "But I need to try a little longer. I can't have my first relationship crash and burn without at least trying to make it work."

"Alright," she responded, "Then call me with the details."

Rory groaned and leaned back in her chair as she hung up. This date was not going to be one of her favorite evenings of all time. She felt that she owed it to Colin to try and help him with his relationship since it was partially their friendship that was causing problems. She also didn't want to force Colin to make a choice between her and Kaylee. Colin had become very important to her in the weeks since she was mugged and she didn't want to lose that.

She sighed and took out her cell phone pushing the one.

"Daughter of mine!" Lorelai exclaimed, "When are you coming to visit your poor abandoned mother?"

Rory laughed. "Because you're so lonely. You don't have a husband or a two year old daughter to keep you company or anything." She said referring to Luke and her sister Isabel.

"But Izzy's conversation isn't as scintillating as yours and, much as I adore my husband, he can't mock a movie like you can," Lorelai pouted.

"I don't know mom," Rory said, "I'll try to get to the hollow as soon as possible. I do have a job you know."

"I know," Lorelai said, "So what's new with you?"

"I'm going on a blind date," Rory said with a groan.

"Rory, I believe 'no blind dates' is part of the Gilmore code. We don't do that because it leads to all things awkward and uncomfortable," Lorelai lectured.

"I know," Rory said, "But Colin guilted me into it. Apparently this is going to help convince Kaylee that I'm not sleeping with him."

"Yeah, that's so not going to work," Lorelai said.

"I know," Rory sighed, "But it was her idea, and Colin feels like he needs to do everything he can to ease her jealousy before the relationship ends. It won't be too bad, I hope. It's a triple date with Colin and Finn so I at least know it's going to be interesting."

"Finn?" Lorelai asked, "The drunken Australian? You didn't tell me you were friends with him again."

"I wasn't," Rory responded, "Colin offered to have him come so there would be more people to entertain me."

"So you're not holding out on me?" Lorelai asked. Rory heard a loud yelp in the background. "Izzy, don't do that!" Lorelai yelled, "I've got to go, hon. Your little sister decided that it would be fun to go for a ride on Paul Anka. Paul Anka did not agree." Rory laughed and said goodbye to her mother.

That Friday Rory was nervously getting ready for her blind date. She was having painful flashbacks to the type of guy her grandparents had tried to set her up with at their 'male Yale' party. That was the kind of guy she was expecting Kaylee to know and set her up with.

She glanced in the mirror one more time, and, after deciding she was presentable, grabbed her keys and headed out the door. They were meeting at the restaurant to her immense relief. She wanted to spend as little time as possible in the company of this guy.

She stepped out of her cab and entered the nice restaurant. She approached the hostess and said, "Hi, I'm meeting some people here. The reservation is under McCrea I believe."

"Yes," the hostess said glancing at the reservation book, "Some of your party is already seated. If you'll follow me…"

As she approached the table she noticed only Finn and his date were there. She smiled as she approached the table. "So, are you going to remember my name, Finn?" Rory asked as he got up and hugged her.

"Now, I'm offended Gilmore," Finn said, "How could I possibly forget a beautiful woman such as yourself."

Rory laughed and kissed his cheek. "Flattery will get you everywhere," she said before turning her attention to Finn's date. Her jaw dropped as she recognized the woman.

"Well, well, well," the red head sneered, "If it isn't Rory Gilmore."

"You know each other?" Finn asked glancing between the two and noticing an obvious tension.

"Hi, Francie," Rory said, "It's good to see you again. It's been, what, nine years?"

"Something like that," Francie responded with a tight smile. "Rory and I went to Chilton together," she said answering Finn's question.

"Right," Finn said, "I take it you weren't best friends."

Rory laughed. "You could say that," she said, "We had a bit of a student government war."

Finn nodded and Francie continued to smile tightly as the three settled into an awkward silence. Rory was relieved when she saw Kaylee, Colin, and a reasonably attractive man heading towards the table.

"Francie!" Kaylee squealed as they headed towards the table, "I didn't know you were dating Finn!" The two girls hugged and kissed each other's cheeks.

Rory's date smiled at her. "Hi," he said, "You must be Rory. I'm Kyle."

"Nice to meet you Kyle," Rory said as she sat in the chair he held out for her.

A half hour later Rory excused herself to go to the bathroom. It had been the most excruciating half hour of her life. Not even Finn and Colin had been able to save her from the pain of listening to Kyle go on and on about his job which Rory was unsure what that actually was. Something to do with stocks. Any time Colin or Finn tried to talk to her Kaylee and Francie would glare at them.

She sighed as she leaned back against the wall outside the bathroom. She really didn't want to go back to that table.

Colin walked up and leaned next to her. "Hey," he said apologetically, "Sorry about this. I had no idea we weren't going to be allowed to talk to you."

Rory just groaned. "Seriously," she said, "Kaylee couldn't find someone with at least one interesting thing to say?"

"I'm really sorry, Rory," Colin said again, "You should come back to the table though. Francie is telling everyone about the time you almost joined the Puffs."

"Oh, God," Rory said, "You're kidding."

Colin laughed. "I never took you for that kind of girl."

Rory glared at him and he hugged her. Rory sighed as she wrapped her arms around him. She felt so comfortable.

"Do I have to go back?" she asked.

Colin nodded. "You can stick it out. I'll have any movie night you want next week to make it up to you."

"I'm holding you to that," she said as she pulled away from his hug.

She was surprised by how much she missed his touch. She couldn't remember ever feeling so much from a hug. _Damn it_, she thought, _I am NOT falling for him. _She watched as he headed towards the table before she followed. _I'm so falling for him._

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AN- I think this is my longest chapter on any of my stories. I was watching my season 3 DVDs the other day, and when I saw that Francie had red hair I couldn't get the thought of Finn taking her on a date out of my mind. She's not going to be a big part of the story so don't worry.


	5. I Can't Do This

Disclaimer: I love me some GG, but I don't own it.

**Ch. 5- I can't do this**

Rory took a deep breath as she stood outside the door to Colin's apartment with a stack of DVDs in her hands. She was determined to act normal. She couldn't let Colin notice that she had fallen for him.

She smiled at the movies she had chosen as Colin's punishment for the horrendous double date. She hadn't been sure whether she wanted to watch movies that she loved and that Colin would deem too girly or ones that would be truly torturous for him. She had decided on the latter and was very happy with her choices.

_Breathe, Rory, _she thought as she raised her hand to knock on the door, _Just act normal. He's just Colin._ With that, she knocked firmly on the door three times and waited for Colin to open it.

"Hey," he said with a smile as he opened the door and let her in.

"Boy are you going to be sorry aboutagreeing to set me up," she said and gestured with the movies in her hand.

"Oh, no," he said and cringed, "What are we watching?"

"Well," she said grinning evilly, "I thought we'd go with a movie night centered on the theme of pop stars." Colin winced. "Therefore," she continued, "We have _Gigli _starring one Jennifer Lopez. I hear it did wonderfully at the box office. We have _Crossroads _starring the talented Britney Spears. And, my personal favorite, _Undiscovered_ featuring the one and only…Ashlee Simpson."

Colin closed his eyes. "You're kidding. You couldn't have gotten _Mean Girls_? Isn't Lindsay Lohan a pop star?" he whined.

Rory gave him a patronizing look and said, "I suppose she is, but what kind of punishment would that be?"

Colin sighed. "Alright," he said, "I suppose I deserve this. Let's get this over with."

Rory smiled and the two headed towards the couch and sat in silence as the first movie began. The silence did not last, however, as neither was able to contain their mockery, and more than one piece of candy was thrown at the TV screen.

The two were sitting close together. They were almost touching, and there were moments when Rory could barely breathe due to the proximity of Colin.

About half-way through the last movie, _Undiscovered_, Rory reached to the left to grab a slice of pizza sitting in the box in front of Colin. At the same time Colin tried to reach in front of her to grab a handful of M&Ms. When she felt his hot breath on her cheek she turned her head and found her face inches away from his. She gasped when she looked into his eyes.

Colin couldn't look away. She was so close, and he realized that over the past few weeks he had grown closer to Rory than he was to anyone else. He didn't want her to be just his friend, and, if the look of want in her eyes was any indication, she didn't want that either. He leaned forward to kiss her.

Rory was about to kiss him when Lindsay's face as popped into her mind, and she pulled back quickly. "Not again," she whispered.

"What?" Colin asked, confused.

"I won't do that," Rory said, "I won't be the other woman again. I can't. I like you so much Colin. God, I'm falling for you. But I won't be that girl."

Tears were streaming down Rory's face as she jumped up and ran out of the apartment grabbing her purse as she went. She had to get out of there. She had to get out of the city, and she knew exactly where she would go. She was too preoccupied and blinded by tears to notice the man she ran into on her rush to get to the elevator and out of Colin's building.

"Ace?" the man softly questioned.

Logan walked to Colin's door and knocked. His confusion was written all over his face. When no one answered he tried the door and, discovering it was unlocked, walked into his best friend's apartment. He found Colin sitting on the couch, still in shock.

"Was that Rory Gilmore who just ran out of here?" Logan asked as he sat down next to his friend.

"Yeah," Colin said before looking up, startled, "Logan? What are you doing here?"

"I'm in the city on business," Logan explained, "Can't a guy surprise his best friend with a visit?"

"What...Oh, of course you can," Colin said, "I'm just surprised."

"Well, now that we've covered why I'm here, why don't you tell me why Rory just ran out of here crying," Logan said, "I didn't know you were spending time with her let alone that you were close enough to her to make her cry like that. I thought you were still seeing Kaylee."

Colin sighed and began to explain. "I am still with Kaylee. I guess. I ran into Rory about a month ago. Actually I stumbled on her. She had been mugged and she was unconscious so I brought her to the hospital and we became friends. I guess it's been a while since we've talked, man. Anyway, we were just friends, but tonight we were watching a movie and we kind of accidentally leaned into each other. We were about to kiss when Rory pulled away and started talking about not being the other woman again. She ran out crying."

"You want to be with her?" Logan asked.

Colin nodded miserably. "She's amazing. Ever since we started hanging out I've been asking myself what the hell I'm doing with Kaylee. I mean, things weren't good with Kaylee even before. And now…it's just…Rory's amazing. You know?"

Logan laughed. "Believe me," he said, "I know. We're talking about the one girl in college who I even considered having a relationship with."

"That's right," Colin said, "You really liked her. Would you have a problem if I dated her?"

Logan shook his head. "That was a long time ago. I _will _have a problem if you hurt her though. So, I guess you're breaking up with Kaylee?"

"Yeah," Colin said, "I never should have committed to her in the first place. Wait a second. What did Rory mean about being the other woman _again_?"

"You remember that guy that broke up with her in front of all of us at the meat market her grandparents had for her?" Logan asked, "She told me that night that he was her first boyfriend and they were kind of on-again off-again, but he was married when they got together for the final time."

Colin's eyes widened at the thought. Rory had always been so perfect in his eyes. This didn't make him want her any less, but it was surprising. He understood why she had been so upset at their almost kiss.

A few hours later Rory pulled her car into her mother's driveway in Stars Hollow. She was hurting, and she needed her mommy. She opened the front door and walked into the living room and smiled at her mother watching a movie with Luke asleep beside her and Izzy curled up on her lap also fast asleep.

"Mommy," Rory whispered, her voice anguished, causing Lorelai to whip around and wake Luke up. When Luke noticed Rory's tear stained face he took the little girl from Lorelai's lap allowing his wife to get up and embrace her daughter.

"Rory, sweetie," Lorelai said holding her tight, "What's wrong?"

Rory began sobbing again, and she buried her face in her mother's shoulder hoping to find comfort. "Why do I always fall for the wrong guy?" she cried.

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	6. Love Line

Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls or the characters portrayed in this story. Well…I own Kaylee, but who would want to? She's a big bitch.

**Ch. 6- Love Line**

Lorelai led her sobbing eldest daughter to the couch and held her in her arms as the two sat down.

"What happened Ror?" she asked, still hugging her, "What do you mean you always fall for the wrong guy." Lorelai was pretty sure she knew what Rory was talking about, she had had suspicions that her daughter was falling for Colin, but she wanted Rory to tell her.

"Colin," Rory said, "We almost kissed. We were leaning in, and then Lindsay's face popped into my brain. Do you remember how broken she looked just standing there in the street while her mother attacked me? I couldn't do that to another woman no matter how much I like Colin and hate Kaylee."

Lorelai nodded sympathetically. "I'm so sorry sweetie," she said, "I wish I could promise you everything would work out, and that you can get the guy without hurting anyone, but life isn't that easy. At least he knows how you feel now."

"I guess," Rory said, laying down and resting her head on Lorelai's lap while she stroked her hair comforting, "But then, if he breaks up with her and gets together with me, I still ruined their relationship."

"First of all," Lorelai soothed, "Their relationship was practically over anyway, if what you've been telling me is true, and, second of all, you can't save everyone's feelings all the time. In some situations, you can't expect everyone to come out unscathed. All you can do is not be the other woman and follow your heart if he chooses you. You've already done the first part, and I'm proud of you."

"I guess," Rory whispered for the second time that night.

Lorelai could tell there was something else bothering Rory. "What else is wrong, Rory? This isn't just about Kaylee."

"It is," Rory insisted, "Well, kind of." She sighed and ran a hand through her hair while Lorelai waited expectantly. "How do I know I can trust him?" she finally continued, "I know it's not fair of me to hold this against him, but he was perfectly willing to kiss me. I know things haven't been working for them, but this was his first relationship. It doesn't bode well for his ability to commit."

"I can't tell you what to do on this one, Rory," Lorelai told her confused daughter, "You just have to talk to him, and, if he wants to be with you, decide if it's worth it to put your heart on the line."

Rory nodded. "When did you become so insightful?" she asked.

"It's scary falling in love with you best friend," Lorelai explained, "But in the end I decided that it was worth risking everything to see where things went with Luke, and, let me tell you sweets, the pay off was big. I'm not trying to tell you what to do though. This was right for me. Only you can decide what's right for you."

Rory sat up and gave her mother a hug. "Maybe I'm doing all this worrying for nothing. Maybe almost kissing was just a mistake to him, and he doesn't even want to be with me," she said.

"Maybe," Lorelai said, unconvinced. She was pretty sure Colin had fallen just as hard for Rory. "Come on, now. Some serious wallowing is in order. No more thinking. Only stuffing your face and watching horrible chick flicks which will make us cry." She got up and headed to the kitchen to gather some supplies. It was too late to go shopping so they would have to make do with what they had.

Colin was pacing his apartment and mumbling to himself which was making Logan dizzy. He knew Colin needed some advice. The guy wasn't the brightest when it came to relationships, not that Logan could boast about his own relationship knowledge. Logan had decided, however, that, having been out of the loop, that he did not have enough knowledge of the situation to provide adequate advice so he called in reinforcements.

"Alright," an accented voice announced, "I'm here and this better be important because I, swear to god, got Rosemary to go home with me tonight. You all are just lucky she knows and likes Colin and Rory or she may have been pissed that I left."

"I thought you were dating that scary Francie chick," Logan said, hoping his friend wouldn't make it impossible for the rest of them to hang out with Rosemary after this.

Finn shrugged. "She was a bitch," he said, "No amount of red hair was going to make up for it. Besides, I've always liked Rosemary. Anyway, we're not talking about me. My love life is fine. What happened between Colin and Rory? Did our pathetic friend finally realize he's hopelessly in love?"

"They almost kissed, and she freaked out about Kaylee and ran out of here crying," Logan explained, bringing Finn up to speed.

"Right," Finn said, "Probably partially about the whole married ex thing." He was surprisingly insightful at times.

Colin finally stopped pacing and said, incredulously, "Am I the only one who didn't know about that?"

"You and Rory didn't talk that much in college," Logan explained, "She was always better friends with me and Finn. Probably because you were always such as ass to Marty."

Colin just nodded and started pacing again. "What am I going to do?" he asked desperately, "I really like her."

"Of course you do," Finn said, "And she likes you too. So, what you're going to do is tell her. After you've dumped Kaylee of course because that's clearly her sticking point. I never understood why you were with that girl in the first place."

"I don't think it's going to be that easy," Colin said.

"Bloody hell," Finn complained, "I feel like I'm on Love Line. You want to take this one Logan?"

"Of course it's not going to be that easy," Logan said, "The best ones always make you work a little. You have to put a little effort in. Convince her you're not going to hurt her and that your feelings are real. You have to talk to her. She wouldn't have freaked out like that and ran out of here crying if she didn't feel anything for you. She would have stayed and talked to you. She would have wanted to try and spare your feelings."

"So you're saying the fact that she wanted to get as far away from my apartment as fast as she could was a positive sign?" he asked. Both guys nodded.

"Now you should get some sleep," Finn said, "You have a busy day tomorrow. Breaking up with Kaylee and convincing Gilmore to give you a chance is bound to take a lot out of you."

Colin nodded and bid his friends good bye, thankful that he had such good friends to help him through this confusing situation.

Logan and Finn headed out together. Logan was headed to his hotel and Finn to his apartment.

When they reached the street Finn said, "Well, I'm off to see if the lovely Rosemary stayed and waited for me as promised." His tone was nonchalant, but Logan could hear the tint of insecurity in his voice and knew his friend had fallen. He shook his head in disbelief. It looked as though he was the last of the trio of eternal bachelordom.

The next day Colin nervously knocked on the door to Kaylee's apartment.

"Hey, baby," she said sweetly as he answered the door, but she was worried. They didn't have plans and their relationship did not include the word spontaneous. She had been expecting a breakup for weeks and she suspected it was finally here. She was completely frustrated and bitter about the situation. She had put so much work into Colin and finally getting him to commit. He was quite a catch, her parents had been pleased, and that working slut was going to be the one taking advantage of her hard work.

"Hey," Colin said nervously, turning his face a little so her intended kiss landed on the corner of his mouth.

"What's wrong?" she asked, a hint of malice beginning to lace her voice.

"This…this isn't working," Colin said nervously.

"This is about that stupid cow," Kaylee stated.

"No," Colin said, "Things haven't been working since this relationship became serious. You don't trust me, and we just…don't mesh. I'm not going to deny that I have feelings for Rory, but this has been a long time coming."

Kaylee made a horribly unladylike sound, a threatening mix between a growl and a hiss, and she lifted her fist and punched Colin in the eye, the jewel encrusted ring she wore on her right hand leaving its mark. "Fuck you, Colin," she said and shoved him out the door slamming it behind him.

Rory was alone in the house with Izzy when the knock came on the door. Her mother had to solve an emergency at the inn and Luke couldn't get away from the diner with Lane on her honeymoon with her high school sweet heart Dave Rygalski.

"Colin," she breathed as she answered the door, "What the hell happened to your face?"

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AN- I'm not usually about the cliff hanger, but I decided, what the hell. So, suck it up and deal, I'll update as soon as possible. I'm on spring break and I didn't go anywhere so I have time so it should be sometime this week. Anyway, hope you liked it.


	7. So Improvise

Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls. I do own my slightly off mind, and if you try to steal it I'll bite you.

**Ch. 7- So Improvise**

_"Colin," she breathed as she answered the door, "What the hell happened to your face?"_

Colin touched his eye. He had forgotten about black eye in his rush to talk to Rory. "Kaylee didn't take our break-up very well," he said.

"You guys broke up?" Rory asked with a tone in her voice that Colin couldn't read.

He nodded and reached out a hand and gently touched her cheek. She closed her eyes and inhaled slowly but pulled away after a few seconds. She stepped back a little and crossed her arms over her chest.

"We should talk about what happened last night," Colin said, feeling guilty at how lost she looked.

She nodded and gestured for him to enter the living room. They sat on either end of the couch facing each other. "So…" Rory said, looking at Colin expectantly.

"I'm really sorry, Rory," Colin said, "I shouldn't have put you in that position last night. I just…I was looking in your eyes, and you were so close…I've never felt anything like that before."

Rory looked into his apologetic eyes. "I'm not mad at you," she said softly, "I wanted to kiss you so badly, but I have experience being the other woman, and it was the worst mistake of my life. I couldn't do that again."

Colin nodded. "Logan told me about your ex," he said, hoping she wouldn't mind.

She looked down. "When I did it, I didn't even think about what it would do to her," she said softly, tears filling her eyes, "I just believed him when he said she knew it was over. I actually _blamed _her. She let him drop out of school; she couldn't possibly be good for him.

"But then, the next day, I saw her buying meat and getting explicit instructions on how to make pot roast. She just kept repeating how she had to make pot roast because it was his favorite. She thought her marriage would be ok. She thought she could fix their problems if they just worked on it, and I destroyed that. I was so selfish. I saw her later, after she found out, and she was so broken, so sad. I did that. I never wanted to do that to another woman again. And now, even though we didn't kiss, I'm still responsible for Kaylee's broken heart. I'm the reason you broke up with her."

"No," Colin said, "Kaylee and I weren't working out even before we became friends again. I would have broken up with her ages ago, but I was too damn stubborn. I didn't want to admit that I had failed at my first ever relationship. This is not your fault. And, to be perfectly honest, I think she's more pissed than broken hearted. I was beginning to realize that her feelings for me were more based on my social status than anything else."

Rory gave a small smile and scooted a little closer to him on the couch. Colin was relieved to see a little guilt leave her eyes. She bit her lip, considering her fears about starting a relationship with Colin. He had alleviated some of them, but she still had a few doubts.

"Can I trust you?" she asked quietly, looking directly into his eyes, "I know this isn't fair of me, but last night, you would have cheated on Kaylee. She was your first girlfriend ever. How do I know I can trust you? I don't want to have the same relationship with you that you had with Kaylee. I need to know that I can trust you if we're going to start something."

Colin looked as though someone had slapped him. He knew she was justified in her doubts, but it still hurt. "Rory, I care about you. You've become one of my best friends. I wouldn't do anything to ruin our friendship. I would never be able to forgive myself if I hurt you," he said, his voice shaking, "But you're right. If you can't trust me, then we can't do this."

Rory looked into Colin's eyes. His emotions were clearly displayed for her to see. She could see the pain that she didn't trust him and the feelings he felt towards her, but most of all she could see that he would never hurt her on purpose. Her face broke into a smile, the first genuine one since she had run out of his apartment crying. She leaned in and kissed him, and, when their lips met, she knew she had made the right decision.

"Are you sure about this?" Colin asked softly as they pulled away, both their breathing labored.

Rory didn't respond but gave him a mischievous look, and, grabbing his hand, led him into her bedroom. She closed the door behind them and kissed him again, this time promising more in her kiss.

Colin pulled away again. "We can't," he said, blushing much to Rory's amusement, "This is your mother's house."

Rory laughed. "You're pretty when you blush," she teased, "But no one will be home for hours. Don't you want to have your way with me?"

Colin made a noise somewhere between a moan and a growl. "Believe me," he said, "Me having my way with you will take a lot more room than that little bed."

"So improvise," Rory challenged before kissing him again and leading him to her old bed.

After, Rory lay content in Colin's arms. "Any regrets?" Colin asked, only slightly nervous.

"None," she said, cuddling closer and kissing his chest.

"Rory?" a small voice called from upstairs. It seemed Izzy had awoken from her nap and wanted to be brought downstairs.

"You said we were alone," Colin accused as Rory got up and put on some clothes so she could go get her little sister.

"Did I?" she asked innocently, "Hmm, I must have forgotten Izzy was napping upstairs."

She left the room to retrieve the little girl leaving Colin blushing madly at the thought that he had had sex in his girlfriend's mother's house when her two year old sister was also in the house. He was shocked out of his embarrassed stupor when Rory entered the room with the little girl in her arms.

"Are you going to stay in here all day?" she teased.

"What…um…no," he stuttered as the little girl stared at him wide-eyed.

Izzy studied him, and, deciding that she liked him, said, "I'm Izzy. Are you friends with Rory?"

"Oh…Yeah," he said, "My name is Colin." The little girl nodded and gave him a big grin.

"Let's go into the living room Izzy," Rory said, deciding to end Colin's discomfort and embarrassment, "Colin will meet us out there in a few minutes." She winked at Colin and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.

A few minutes later, Colin emerged from the room looking more composed as he was now covered by more than a sheet. The three settled comfortably on the couch and watched TV, which is how Lorelai and Luke found them hours later.

The two happened to arrive home at the same time and were surprised to discover, upon entering the house, an unknown man on the couch with their girls. Lorelai assumed this was Colin and was happy to note the comfortable closeness between the two. She wanted her daughter to be happy, and she thought Colin could give her that.

After introductions were made, with only a few glares directed at Colin from Luke who assumed Colin was the reason Rory had shown up crying the night before and wasn't ready to forgive, they all settled around the living room to talk.

"Colin was in Rory's bed," Izzy announced out of the blue. Both Lorelai's had to hold in their laughter as they watched Luke glare menacingly at the yet again blushing Colin.

_What is this girl doing to me_, Colin wondered.

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AN- And they're together…so long as Luke doesn't murder Colin. Let me know what you thought. I didn't really want to drag out them getting together because I didn't really think Rory's doubts were at all insurmountable. Don't worry, there'll be more drama later.

Author's Rant- Stupid Jess. Why won't he go away? The teasers for the rest of the season are driving me crazy. No Jess. Bad Jess. Logan good. Someone cheer me up please…only don't tell me spoilers in your cheering me up cause I'm mostly spoiler free. Stupid Jess. Plus Luke's being such an asshat right now. I'm gonna cry. Rant over.


	8. Sleepless in Seattle

Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls or the characters portrayed in this story. Or _Sleepless in Seattle_. Or _An Affair to Remember_.

**Ch. 8- Sleepless in Seattle**

Rory felt content and relaxed as she drove back to the city. She was meeting Colin at his apartment for dinner as soon as she got back. When her phone rang she knew it would be her mother. Since Colin had been at the house until she had left they had been unable to talk about what had happened.

"Hey mom," she answered with a smile, "What's up?"

"'What's up,' she says," Lorelai began dramatically, "What's up is my ungrateful daughter left without dishing on the boy who apparently was in her bed."

Rory laughed. "Is Luke freaking out?" she asked, "I really need to have a talk with Izzy about sisterly confidence."

"Of course Luke's freaking out," Lorelai answered, "On top of the fact that you will always be the little girl eating only mashed potatoes when she was sick to Luke, he's now freaking out about Izzy growing up."

"Izzy's two," Rory stated.

"I know that," Lorelai said, "But to Luke, you're both his little girls, and if you're having sex it's just a matter of time before she is. Don't ask me to explain Luke's irrationality. Now, stop avoiding the real point of this phone call. What happened with Colin? When I left you were freaking out, completely undecided about what you were doing and when I got back you were very together hanging out on the couch."

"He had an answer to each of my concerns," Rory said shortly, deliberately trying to annoy her mother.

"I know you don't think that's enough, missy," Lorelai huffed, "Now, come on, gimme details."

"Okay," Rory said, "I was moping on the couch while Izzy was napping when someone knocked on the door. Imagine my surprise when I open the door to Colin with the sexiest black eye…"

An hour later, Rory pulled into her parking space. She had hung up with her mother only five minutes before. She quickly showered and changed clothes before grabbing a cab to Colin's apartment.

She was about to knock on the door but stopped when she heard an argument through the door.

"You guys need to leave," Colin was saying loudly, "Rory's going to be here any minute and this is not a group date."

"But I haven't seen Rory in forever," a female voice that Rory couldn't quite place said, "I just want to say hi and tell her to call me. Then I'll get these idiots to leave."

"Hey!" two new voices, which Rory recognized as Finn and Logan, chimed in indignantly.

"No," Colin insisted, "Everyone out now."

"Um, guys," Rory called through the door, laughing, "If you let me in, I think we can solve this."

There was a scuffle, and the door was opened by Colin who was slightly flushed. Rory smiled and kissed his cheek before turning her attention to the rest of the people in the apartment. Her face lit up when she recognized the red headed woman whose familiar voice she had heard through the door.

"Rosemary!" she exclaimed giving her a hug, "It's so great to see you."

"See," Rosemary said, giving Colin a dirty look, "I told you she would want to see me."

Colin just rolled his eyes. "Can you make them leave now?" he asked Rory.

"Now, Colin, let's not be rude," she teased. She turned to Logan and said, "Hey, Logan. Long time no see."

Logan laughed. "That hurts, Ace. I saw you last night," he said. "You ran past me on your way out of here," he continued, noting her confusion.

"Oh," Rory said, "My apologies for not noticing you. I was distracted."

"Alright, now that the pleasantries have been exchanged, it's time for everyone to go," Colin said, taking Logan and Finn by the arms and leading them towards the door.

"Colin is really anxious to get some," Rosemary said and winked at Rory.

"So am I, love," Finn whispered in her ear, making her blush.

"No," Rory said, "Rosemary, tell me you didn't succumb to Finn's advances. You held off for so long."

Rosemary shrugged. "He's just so damn persistent," she said, "What's a girl to do? Plus he's so cute."

Rory shook her head in mock disappointment. "Who was in charge of keeping you from going home with him," she lamented, "I know I never would have let you when it was my job."

"And we're leaving," Finn said, "Before my ego takes a hit from which it will not recover."

As the three were heading out the door, Rory and Rosemary exchanged phone numbers and made plans to get together and gossip later in the week.

Colin closed and locked the door behind them with a sigh. "Why am I friends with them?" he asked.

"Because they have too much blackmail material for you to ditch them?" she asked, leaning in to kiss him.

"Oh, that's right," Colin said, deepening the kiss.

Rory pulled away a few minutes later when her stomach started rumbling. "Hungry," she said, "Are we going out or ordering in?"

"In," Colin said, pulling her in for another kiss.

"Great," Rory said, not allowing him to deepen the kiss, "Let's get Thai."

Colin groaned and they headed into the kitchen to order food. An hour later they were curled up on the couch each with a take-out container on their lap.

"Mmm, pad see ewe," Rory said, digging into her food, "So, when did Rosemary and Finn happen?"

"I think last night officially," Colin responded, "He was annoyed when Logan called him in for reinforcements on my dilemma."

"You guys are such girls," Rory laughed, "Did you wallow after you talked the situation out, making sure to watch movies that make you cry?"

"You caught me," Colin said dramatically, "We watched _Sleepless in Seattle _until we all cried ourselves to sleep."

"Hmm," Rory said, "You should have gone for _An Affair to Remember_. It's a much better crying movie, and it's what that movie's based on."

"I'll keep that in mind," Colin said, moving both of their near empty containers onto the coffee table in front of him. He maneuvered them until he was lying on top of her on the couch and began kissing her.

"I thought you needed more room to have your way with me," Rory said breathlessly.

"Right," he said, picking her up and carrying her into his bedroom.

AN- Sorry it's been forever and ever since I updated this fic. Oops. Hope you liked it. I wasn't quite sure how get from where I was to where I want to go so I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter. Let me know. Thanks for reviewing.


	9. Can You Handle This?

Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls.

**Ch. 9- Can You Handle This?**

Four months later, Colin was decorating his apartment for a romantic four month anniversary dinner. He was going to ask Rory to move in with him that evening. He knew it was kind of early in the relationship for that step, but things felt so right with Rory. They had said 'I love you' after only a month, and she spent practically every night at his apartment anyway.

He looked around his apartment and decided everything was perfect. It was covered with candles and sunflowers just waiting for the lights to be romantically dimmed. He was cooking a dinner which was, while fancy, devoid of any vegetables. On the table sat a wrapped set of first edition Jane Austen novels along with a sapphire necklace with matching earrings that he knew would match the sparkle of her eyes.

Their plans were for 7:00, and at 6:59 the phone rang.

"Hello?" he answered.

"I'm running late," Rory said breathlessly, "My editor wanted to talk to me. I'll be there in 20 minutes, and I have amazing news."

Colin smiled at the giddy excitement in her voice. "No problem," he said, "Just get here when you can." Due to the Gilmore lateness gene, he had not been expecting her until 7:15 anyway.

"I'm sitting in the cab now," she assured him, "I'll see you in a few."

"Ok," he responded, "I love you."

"Love you, too," she said, "Bye."

Her cab pulled up in front of Colin's apartment at 7:20, and she rushed up as quickly as her shoes would allow. When she got off the elevator, she moved quickly to the door and ended up tripping as she opened it, causing her to stumble gracelessly into the apartment.

Colin laughed at her klutzy entrance. "Maybe you should reconsider you career goals," he teased, giving her a kiss, "You could be a ballerina."

She glared and said, "I'm very happy with my job, thank you."

He laughed and conspicuously looked her up and down. "You look amazing," he said, "I thought you said you were late because you were meeting with your editor not spending hours beautifying."

"I am late because of my editor," she insisted, "I wasn't going to shorten my getting ready time on our anniversary."

"So what's this amazing news?" he asked, pulling her into his arms, "Is it about work? Did they make you an editor?"

Rory smiled and kissed him. "I'll tell you later," she said, "Tonight is about celebrating us, not my career."

Two hours later they had finished eating and exchanged gifts. There was only one thing left of Colin's plans for the evening.

"Rory," Colin began nervously, "I wanted to ask you something."

"Ok," she responded, looking at him expectantly.

"I was thinking," he said, looking at his hands, "That maybe you could move in here…with me."

A smile spread across Rory's face, and she gently tilted his face so he was looking her in the eye. "You want me to live with you?" she asked.

He nodded. "What do you think?"

Instead of responding verbally, she leaned in and initiated a kiss that was quickly deepened. It wasn't long before they had relocated and were making love in what would soon be their bed.

"So," Colin said an hour later, holding her close against him, "Tell me what you big news is."

Rory's face lit up as she remembered the life changing conversation she had with her editor earlier that day. "Well," she said, grinning, "Katie Dane just found out she's pregnant, and she was just about to go to Israel to do an article, but she's afraid to go while she's pregnant so they gave it to me. And, if I do a good job, they're going to make me a foreign correspondent. It's everything I've dreamed of since I was ten years old and its happening."

Colin looked at Rory, his face expressionless. He didn't know what to say. He had always known this was what Rory wanted for her life, but he had never pictured what he would feel when it happened. He knew she was expecting him to say something, so he opened his mouth and said the first thing that came to mind.

"No," he said.

"Excuse me?" she asked. That hadn't been what she was expecting at all.

"No," he repeated, "It's too dangerous."

She looked at him incredulously and pulled out of his arms. "I didn't know I was asking for your permission," she spat, getting out of bed and putting on her clothes, "I thought I was telling you exciting news that you would celebrate with me."

"Well, excuse me for being worried about my girlfriend going to Israel," he said, "I'm so sorry I don't want you to die."

"Screw you, Colin," she shouted, "You always knew this is what I wanted. What did you think, I was going to be a foreign correspondent who only went to safe peaceful countries? What the hell kind of stories could I write? I can't believe you're ruining this."

"God damn it, Rory!" he shouted back, "I just want to be with you. I don't want to be always worrying about you, wondering if you're being tortured or kidnapped in some fucking war torn country."

"Well then maybe you shouldn't be with me," she said bitterly, "Maybe you should have stayed with Kaylee and never had to worry."

"Don't say that," he said, "I love you."

"I need a little space," she said quietly, tears beginning to fall, "I'm leaving in a week. I'll call you when I get back. We'll see if there's anything here that can be saved."

"Rory, wait," he pleaded as she headed out of his room, her head held high, "Please wait." He got out of bed and ran after her, holding a sheet around his naked body.

"I can't," she whispered, "I can't deal with this right now. You need to think about whether you can handle being with me. I can't give up the dreams I've had my whole life because I love you. I can't be that girl. I would resent you for the rest of our relationship. It would destroy us. I call you when I get back."

Without another word she left the apartment, tears streaming freely, and she got a cab to her apartment.

"Be safe," he whispered, long after she could no longer hear him.


	10. What Am I Going to Do?

Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls

**Ch. 10- What Am I Going to Do?**

The next morning, Rory was lying in bed crying. She hadn't been expecting to feel like this right now. When Colin had asked her to move in with him she had felt like every part of her life was falling into place. She had been in a great relationship with a man she loves and her career had been moving towards the dreams she's had for fifteen years. But now, her relationship was in limbo, and she wasn't able to fully enjoy her career advancement.

Rory's phone rang and, despite what she said to him last night, she hoped Colin was calling her. It was her mother. She had called and left an excited message the night before in the cab on the way to Colin's.

"Hey, Mom," she answered, sniffing.

"You ok, Ror?" Lorelai asked, "You sound a little stuffy. You're not getting sick are you? You sounded great in your message last night.

Rory let out a bitter laugh. "Yeah," she said, "I was great last night. I got the job offer of my dreams, Colin asked me to move in with him, he forbade me from taking said job offer, and I walked out telling him he needed to think about our relationship."

"Alright, back up," Lorelai said, "Start at the beginning and include a few more details."

"My editor asked to talk to me yesterday, and, it turns out, I'm getting a chance to write a story on the Israel/Palestine situation which will be like an audition for a foreign correspondent position. So, basically, all my dreams are coming true," Rory began.

"Aw, babe," Lorelai gushed, "That's amazing."

"I know," Rory said, "That's what I wanted Colin to say.

"But he didn't?" Lorelai asked. She was surprised. She didn't think Colin would begrudge her daughter a career.

"No," Rory spat, "He didn't. What he said was, 'No.'"

"No?" Lorelai asked, "That's all he said."

"At first," Rory said, "But then he expanded, saying that it was too dangerous and I was going to get kidnapped and tortured. Of course he said all this after wooing me with a perfect anniversary dinner and an offer to move in with him, which I ecstatically accepted before I realized it was apparently 1950."

"What did you do when he said no?" Lorelai asked.

"I told him he always knew this was my dream and that we would never last if I gave it up for him. I told him he needed to think about whether he could handle this relationship and that I would call him when I get back," Rory responded sadly, "I really thought he might be the one."

"Don't give up on him," Lorelai said, "He was surprised, and he loves you. It wasn't a 'me Tarzan, you Jane' moment. It was more of a 'I love this woman and don't want her to die' moment. He may not have had the response you wanted, but his heart was in the right place."

"I know," Rory whispered, "That's why it hurts so much. All I can think about is what if I come back and he says I have to choose between this job and him. I don't know how I would manage to walk away from him no matter how much I know I'd have to."

"Don't think about that right now," Lorelai insisted, "You go live your dream and call him when you get back. You don't need to be focusing on this right now."

"You're right," Rory said, "I just wish it were that easy to get him off my mind."

"Let me help you," Lorelai offered, "Tell me more about the job. When do you leave?"

Colin never got to sleep that night. He didn't know what to do. He didn't completely regret what he said to Rory; he did think this job was dangerous, and he didn't want to lose her. He regretted that he made it sound like an order, an ultimatum. That wasn't how he meant it.

At around nine the next morning, there was a knock on his apartment door. He forced himself to get out of the bed and to answer the door. He convinced himself that it might be Rory, reconsidering her request for space until she got back.

He pulled the door open, and his face fell at the person in front of him. "Logan," he said, opening the door wider to let his friend in, "Here on business again?"

"Yeah," he said, "Dad wants me to look into buying a new paper here. You look like crap and your apartment is all flower and candley. What happened?"

"Last night was our anniversary," Colin said as the two went and sat on his couch, "She agreed to move in with me, and I crushed her excitement about her job. She's got a chance to become a foreign correspondent. You know the dream. She's going to Israel in a week, and I told her not to go, that it was too dangerous."

"Ouch," Logan said, "I'm guessing she took that less than well."

"That's one way of putting it," Colin sighed, "She told me she wouldn't choose me over this, and that I need to think about whether I can handle this relationship. What am I going to do?"

"You're going to do what she told you to do," Logan stated, "You're going to think about whether you can handle being with her with this job because you don't want her to give up her dream any more than she does."

"What I want is to be with her," Colin insisted, "Nothing else matters."

"You know that's not true," Logan countered, "You love her. You want her to be happy."

"But why can't just being with me do that?" Colin asked.

"Because she's not the kind of girl who lets a guy complete her. You know she's not that girl. You wouldn't love her if she was that girl," Logan explained as though he was talking to a five-year-old.

"You're right," Colin said, "I hate that you're right. Why couldn't her dream be to own a coffee shop?"

AN- I know this is extra super short, but I wanted to get at what they're thinking before I have her coming back. I'm not going to write her actually in Israel because I would do that really really badly. Let me know what you think.


	11. I'm Bl e

Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls.

**Ch. 11- I'm Bl e**

Rory was getting into a cab at the airport having just gotten back to New York from Israel. She was exhausted but also exhilarated. It had been everything she had always imagined since she was a little girl and more. As much as she loved this feeling of total accomplishment she couldn't fully enjoy it because she could still feel her relationship hovering over the edge of a cliff. She wanted to have this dream and Colin too.

"Where are you headed Miss?" the cabby asked, giving her a friendly smile.

She opened her mouth to give him her address but changed her mind and told him to take her to Colin's instead. She didn't know what she was going to say, but she knew it had been too long and she needed to see him, to feel his presence.

Rory got out of the cab and stared at Colin's building for a few seconds, pondering what she was feeling before quickly heading inside. It was eleven at night and she was never again going to make the mistake of staying outside alone at night in the city. She headed towards the elevator and got in, pushing the button for the penthouse. She tapped her foot impatiently and chewed her lip while waiting for it to reach Colin's floor.

Colin had been lying in bed reading when he heard the knock on his apartment door. He figured it would be Finn or Logan, and he wasn't really in the mood to talk to either so he trudged slowly to the door and opened it.

"Rory," he said, and a wave of relief washed over him when he saw her standing there with her bags, looking exhausted but unharmed.

"Hey," she said quietly, offering him a small smile, "I missed you."

He pulled her into his arms and she dropped her bags on the floor. "God, I missed you too," he breathed, holding her tight.

She finally pulled away but grabbed onto his hand, not wanting to let go of him. "I know we need to talk," she said, "But I'm so tired. Can we just sleep for now and figure this out in the morning."

He nodded and, after closing the door that was still open after her entrance, led her gently to the bedroom. He handed her a pair of his sweatpants and a t-shirt for her to put on, and they both climbed into bed. Rory curled herself into Colin and laid her head on his chest.

"I love you," she mumbled as she fell into a much needed deep sleep.

"I love you, too," Colin whispered, brushing a strand of hair away from her face.

Colin stared at the woman in his arms. This was a feeling he didn't want to ever loose. He wasn't sure how their conversation was going to go in the morning but, for now, he was content just having her in his arms. He kissed the top of her head and wrapped his arms tightly around her before drifting off to sleep.

Rory woke up around ten the next morning. She was disappointed that Colin wasn't still in bed, but when she inhaled she realized he had made her coffee. She walked in to the kitchen and gave Colin a sleepy smile.

"You made me coffee," she mumbled.

"Of course I did," he responded, kissing her cheek and handing her a mug of coffee.

They sat in slightly tense silence while Rory drank her coffee. They both knew that they were going to have to talk about Rory's job soon, and they didn't know what the other one was thinking.

"So," Rory said, putting down her now empty mug.

"So," Colin responded.

"What are you thinking?" Rory asked tentatively, staring into her mug.

"I don't want to lose you, Rory," Colin said, "But I feel like whatever choice I make there's a possibility of losing you. But I don't want you to give up your dreams either."

"I don't want to lose this," Rory said, "When I got off that plane, the only place I wanted to be was here with you. I'm not going to lie to you, Colin. I loved what I did there. It was everything I ever wanted it to be, but I couldn't completely enjoy it because everything was so up in the air with you. What I really wanted to do was come here and talk to you about it. I want to be able to show my articles to you. I want you to be happy for me."

"I am Rory," Colin responded, grabbing her hand, "I'm so proud of you, never think I'm not. I'm just scared for you."

"I know," she whispered, "And I don't want you to think this job is more important to me than you. Nothing is more important to me than you. That's not why I told you I wouldn't choose you over the job. I just think it would ruin us if either of us gave up something this important for the other."

"I understand," Colin said, "Where does this leave us, though?"

"What can I do to make this better for you?" Rory asked, "What can the paper do to make you comfortable? Because, I swear to you, we take every possible precaution to keep me safe. Yes, there are some risks, but the paper does everything it can to make sure I come back in one piece. Would it help if I explained to you everything we're doing before each trip?"

"I think it would," he nodded, "It would help to not be picturing you standing alone with your notebook in a war zone."

"That's what you were picturing?" she asked with a small smile.

He nodded. "I've been going crazy with worry for over a week," he admitted.

She brought his hand up to her mouth and kissed his knuckles. "I love you," she said, "What else can I do to make you more comfortable?"

"You'll call me while you're gone?" he asked.

"As often as I can," she assured him, "At least once a day."

"Ok," he said, "I think I can handle that."

"Really?" she asked, eyes shining.

He nodded. "I'm not saying I won't worry about you or miss you," he said, "But I love you and I want you to be happy, and I think I can live with the worry if I'm informed."

Rory smiled and moved onto his laps. "I like that you worry about me a little," she said, leaning in to kiss him.

"Can't help it," he responded, kissing her deeper, "I love you." He stood up, surprising her but making sure to not let her fall, and carried her to the bedroom.

An hour later, they lay close together, more content than either had been in a week.

"I was wondering," Rory said nervously, avoiding his eyes, "Do you still want me to live with you?"

He kissed her soundly. "Hell, yes," he stated.

"Good," she said, grinning mischievously, "You can tell Luke."

Colin went pale, and Rory burst out laughing. "That's not funny. He'll castrate me," he said before giving her a little bite on the shoulder.

She gave a little squeal and rolled on top of him, kissing him.

AN- I'm thinking one more chapter just because I'm done with the drama. I really don't want to start a whole other story line. Much as I love writing this story, I think it has run its course. Oh, and the chapter title is from this license plate someone told me about. If you can't figure it out it means I'm blue without 'u.' I just think it's cute in an exceptionally corny way.


	12. Is it Bad That I'm Glad?

Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls.

**Ch 12- Is it Bad That I'm Glad?**

Rory lay, content, in Colin's arms on their couch as he absent mindedly played with her hair. She had gotten back from Argentina the day before, and she had the whole day to just be with Colin before she had to dig into writing her article the next day. It had been four months since Rory got back from Israel, and, while things hadn't been perfect, they had been pretty close to it.

She was talking endlessly about her trip and what she was going to write in her article. Colin just smiled as she rambled, glad that she was safe and happy. He groaned when the phone rang.

"Nope," Rory said, snuggling closer, when he tried to get up, "We're not answering the phone today. Remember?"

"You were serious about that?" he asked as the phone continued to ring.

"Of course I was," she said, the answering machine finally picking up, "This is our day. It is not getting interrupted by anything."

_Beep. _"Hey, child of mine," Lorelai's voice said, "I know you're there. It's not nice to ignore your mother. You really shouldn't love your boy toy more than your very own mother. I'm hurt. And Izzy's here and she wants to talk to you…"

Colin rolled his eyes at Rory. "Your mother is insane," he said, laughing, "And you can answer if you want."

"No," Rory insisted, "I'll call her tomorrow."

Izzy's voice could now be heard on the machine. "…and I can spell my name now. I'll show you when I see you. Oh, mommy wants to talk now. Bye, bye, Rory. I love you."

"So, the real reason I'm calling," Lorelai said, "I finally convinced Luke that we need a vacation. So he's taking me to Vermont for four days at our anniversary. We were hoping you guys could take Izzy while we're gone. So, give me a call. I'll talk to you later." She finally hung up.

Rory turned around to look at Colin. "You ok with that?" she asked.

Colin grinned. "Of course," he said, "It'll give us practice."

"Practice?" Rory asked, "You see us in the future with kids? You think about that stuff?"

"Yeah," he said, turning slightly red, "I know I want a future with you."

Rory kissed him softly. "I'm glad," she said, "I want that too."

She kissed him more deeply, lying on top of him. His hands were beginning to inch up her shirt when the phone rang again. His hands stopped moving and he groaned again. "We should change our number," he said.

"Or at least set it up to go straight to the machine," she agreed, waiting for the ringing to stop and the machine to pick up.

_Beep. _"Hey, it's me," Logan's voice said, "Dude, did you know that Steph lives in New York? I ran in to her the other day. Man, I forgot how gorgeous she was. She's even prettier now. I can't believe I haven't talked to her since college. I have a date with her. I really think this could go somewhere. Call me later."

Rory laughed. "Another one bites the dust," she joked, "The last of the gruesome threesome has fallen."

Colin shook his head. "Logan and Stephanie," he said, "I can't believe I never thought of that."

Rory tried to get up, but Colin increased his grip on her waist. "I'll be right back," she said, kissing him softly, "I'm just changing the answering machine settings, since I have no desire to spend the day listening to the phone ring."

Colin reluctantly let go, and Rory made her way over to the phone. When she got back, she settled herself into Colin's arms.

"So," Colin said, his tone becoming a little nervous, "We were talking about kids earlier and…"

"And?" Rory prompted, "You're not going to ask me to get pregnant now, are you?"

"No," Colin said, "No, of course not. I was just wondering about your job. Whether you would want to keep the same job when we have kids."

"Did you just ask me if I'm going to become a house wife?" Rory asked, her tone a little icy.

"No," Colin said, quickly, "No, that's not what I meant at all. I didn't even mean that I thought you should quit your job. I was just wondering. If you would want to be away so much and in danger all the time. I wasn't saying I thought you should quit. We've had that fight. I wasn't trying to instigate it again. I'm sorry."

Rory relaxed into his arms. "No, I'm sorry," she said, "I was being overly sensitive. In answer to your question, I don't know. I know I would obviously take a long break from it while I was pregnant and while the baby is a baby. But later, I don't know. I love my job, you know that. But I want to be there for my kids like mom was always there for me. So, I guess we'll have to see and talk about it when it's a reality and not a hypothetical."

Colin nodded. "That makes sense," he said before pulling her towards him to kiss her.

The phone rang once and the machine picked up. Colin let out a frustrated growl, and Rory sighed, leaning against his chest.

"We know too many people," she grumbled.

_Beep. _"Rory!" A very excited Rosemary squealed, "You have to call me back immediately. We have a very important discussion to have about the possibility of you being a bridesmaid. That's right. You can pick your jaw up off the floor. Finn proposed. He asked me to come home with him forever. Possibly the sweetest most romantic use of a sleazy pick-up line in a proposal ever. Finn, no. I'm talking to Rory right now, you can't have the phone."

There was an audible struggle and finally Finn's voice could be heard on the line. "Don't listen to her mate," Finn said, "I wasn't romantic and sweet, I was rugged and sexy. She just got confused. Anyway, I know you're home right now, so sorry if we interrupted a little somethin' somethin'."

"Finn, don't be crude," Rosemary shouted.

"Would you rather I be crude with you, love?" Finn asked suggestively, and Rosemary giggled, "Later mates."

Rory rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. She was very happy for her friends.

"_Way_ too many people," Colin said, kissing Rory again.

An hour later, they had moved to the bed and were lying happily, with Rory's head on his chest. Colin had unplugged the phone, so they were looking forward to the rest of the day without interruptions.

"Rory?" Colin said.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"Is it bad that I'm really glad that you got mugged?"

THE END

AN- Aw, it's over. I hope you like how I ended it. Sorry it took so long. I had a general idea of how I wanted the last chapter to be, but I wasn't quite sure of how to put it into writing. Let me know what you think.


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